A Species Betrayed
by Magichild
Summary: When Alexis - a vampire hunter - decides that she can't go on with this life of fear and pain, she realises that maybe the escape she craves lies with the creatures she is hunting down. Pre-Nightworld series.
1. A Brush With Death

Being a vampire hunter was tough – the nights were almost as long as the days, you were constantly in danger, and most important of all you had to distance yourself from your old life.

It was for their protection as much as it was for yours. She'd only been doing this for 5 months but she'd already noticed the way that hunters and the people they were close to had a tendency to wind up dead. Alexis was one of the lucky ones, the really lucky ones...She'd never lost anyone to the bloodsuckers, and so far she hadn't died. Which was more than she could say for most of the 'slayers' she'd known, and it was easy to see why.

The night was cold, but not very dark, yet they'd been told to keep watch on the old building from the bushes from just about 100 feet away. It wasn't a safe distance, it wasn't even close. If it was a witch they'd probably be okay, but anything else would be able to see them and their steaming breath without even trying. It was mistakes like that that cost lives.

"Are...Are you sure Shrapnel was right about this place?" the girl next to her whispered.

It was her first time and it was obvious that she was terrified. Alexis felt a little sorry for her; after all, she had been terrified the first time too - everyone was. After all, every hunter knew what they were up against, had memories haunting them of a flash of fang, or a pool of blood, or a scream in the darkness. The only way to get into one of these gangs was to have seen one of _them_ first hand. Hunters didn't advertise – that was another good way to get yourself killed, and God knows there were too many ways to do that already.

Alexis forced a smile, although through her scarf the other girl probably couldn't even tell.

"Look," she whispered. "If this is the right place it's best to keep quiet, and if it's not then think of this as practice."

The girl looked hurt, but this time she didn't let herself feel pity. It was survival of the fittest and she wasn't going to let this scared little newbie get her killed.

* * *

It was another two hours before anything interesting happened. The girl had worked herself up so much in the first hour that Alexis thought that _she_ could almost hear her frantic heartbeat, but after that the calmness and dreamlike quality of the lamp lit street had lulled her into a kind of half sleep. But Alexis was wide awake and watching the building as intently as she had from the begging, waiting for some movement or sound that would give away danger. Which was why she knew to duck when she did.

In the distance she could hear the low purr of an expensive car, probably quite large, and coming this way. Luckily, the shadow of the wall and the bushes hid her when the car's headlights swept the street as it turned the corner, before gliding to a stop outside the old house. Something very wrong was going on here. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go.

They had tracked the bloodsucker down for the last week or so – it wasn't hard. To the rest of humanity the murders barely registered - what couldn't be covered up was always blamed on serial killing humans or animals. Only Night Worlders and hunters would ever link them with vampires, and sometimes even the hunters weren't so sure. But these cases were a dead cert. The killer was obviously a traveller, not caring about where they disposed of bodies or how because they knew that it wouldn't be their problem in just a few days.

But that kind of vampire didn't have dark gray Porsches with tinted windows. The definitely didn't have private drivers. It seemed that they had stumbled on something bigger than they could handle.

Alexis' whole body ached as adrenalin surged though her, and it became so hard to keep her breathing slow and quiet that it was taking all the willpower she could muster. She was so, so out of her depth here. Every hunter knew that They were out there, doctors, lawyers, students. Your neighbour could be one. Your best friend. That was another reason why it was so important to distance yourself from people, to keep your identity a secret in case one got away. But that kind of monster got left alone - they were too hard to track because they rarely killed, and there was too much mess involved in killing them.

This was something totally different. Most vampires didn't have the kind of money that bought you cars like that. In a sick kind of way they were like the humans they fed on – average Joes working 9 to 5, just they didn't exactly drink wine with their evening meal. Whoever this was, they were someone important...

_Maybe someone so important they don't have to care about their kills._

Every instinct was screaming at her to run, to bolt from those bushes like a rabbit and find somewhere safe. But she couldn't move – half from self preservation and half from sheer terror.

The car remained outside of the building for a few minutes before she heard the murmur of voices coming closer and closer. This wasn't just a single bloodsucker – there had to be four or five at least from the sound of their footsteps, and they were heading out of the building towards the Porsche. In a second they'd be in view. In a second they'd see her and her terrified companion. The second after that she'd probably be feeling fangs in her throat. She saw a flash of white as her body screamed out in terror at the thought.

But all of her fears were in vain – the group didn't seem to be expecting any kind of attack. They were talking and laughing with each other like old friends, and they were nothing like the vampires she knew. They were smartly dressed in business suits even though most of them looked like they were only in their late teens. There was another at the head of the group who looked older, maybe 30, and it was easy to see that he was the one in charge from the way the others were looking at him and baying for attention.

She thanked her luckiest star for that bloodsucker, because he was the only reason she wasn't dead right now. Hunters weren't exactly hard to recognise, what with the dark green scarf covering her lower face. Not to mention the selection of wood and silver knives through her belt.

She risked a breath. The girl beside her was curled up, crying or praying she didn't know. Either way she guessed that the girl would be dead in a few days, either from making a stupid mistake on a mission, or just hunted down in her own home. She wasn't strong enough to survive, that was clear.

_But please God just let us survive tonight._

One by one the vampires slid into the car. Even through her fear Alexis couldn't help but admire the graceful way they moved; so fluid and confident. And they were all eerily beautiful, from the pale skinned boy in the black suit to the dark eyed Asian whose skin seemed to glow gold from beneath. The vampires were always beautiful, even the females enthralled her, even though she had never been interested in human women like that.

Her breath caught in her throat as the leader stood by the car and looked up at the sky for a few moments. The lamp light made his red hair shine like wet blood.

_Please don't see me. Please don't see me._

At last he moved to get into the back of the car, but as he did his gaze swept over the road, and for a second his predatory, golden, eyes met hers, and her heart must have stopped. He was looking right at her, he'd seen her. She was dead.

Only he couldn't have, because he carried on getting into the car, and immediately it pulled off in the opposite direction, slow and purposeful as a big cat.

But as the girl next to her let out a shuddering sob and the adrenalin fizzing in her blood made Alexis' ears sing, she couldn't help but think that she'd seen him smirk at her.


	2. A Family

Even after such a near miss, last night counted as a good night in Alexis' books-for all the terror they had felt no one had died. No one had even gotten hurt. Shrapnel and his girlfriend always stayed at the base in case anyone rang in, so it was pretty unlikely that anything would happen to them no matter how incompetent they were at fighting. Group One had had an uneventful patrol of the area they'd staked out, and Michael and Bren hadn't seen anything either, even though they'd been stationed around the back exit of the building.

But still, Alexis found that she couldn't sleep, and lay staring at the ceiling, watching as the light from passing cars made the shadows run for cover. There were thoughts in her head she just couldn't silence.

She was worried about the new girl, Jessica. In fact she'd been so worried that she'd pulled Shrapnel aside when they got back to base, which she'd never done for anyone before.

Jessica wasn't a fighter, she was a scared little girl, and if she continued to be taken out on patrols she was not only a danger to her partner, she was as good as dead.

'_I'll see what I can do_" was all he'd said with a sad look in his eyes. But what could he actually do in the end? Once you were a hunter the only way out was death, because the Night World would never, ever let you survive, and the hunters just didn't have the resources to protect someone who was useless. It all came back to survival of the fittest.

Sometimes this world was too cruel to understand.

And Alexis was confused, and - if she allowed herself to admit it - she was scared. A deep, panicked fear in her chest, like she was too far from the shore and the sharks were closing in. Who were the vampires she'd seen? And why had the one with golden eyes not seen her when she had been in plain sight? Or seen her and done nothing? And had he really smirked at her or had it been a trick of the half light?

She rolled over with a groan and buried her face in the pillows. Her body was weak and exhausted and screaming for sleep, but her mind was troubled and feverish. She only had 4 hours until college started, and she was patrolling tomorrow night on top of that.

She hugged her pillow to her chest and tried to think of nothing at all.

* * *

Leading a double life certainly left its mark. Walking home from college that day she couldn't ignore the protests of her body - every bruise and half healed scrape thrummed with pain as she strode confidently down the sidewalk trying to look like nothing was wrong.

On top of everything there was a thick layer of exhaustion making her head throb and her eyes dry and painful. And if that wasn't enough she had had to concentrate all day on her studies. It was no wonder her grades had slipped so much since she'd started to come back to college. It wasn't really worth it. She doubted she would survive to graduation, but on the bright side, she wouldn't have to pay back her student loans.

But she'd realised sometime ago that it wasn't for her grades or future that she came to class, but the human company. The little chats with humans who didn't know anything about her dark life, who went home to normal little houses with their normal friends.

She longed for everything they took for granted.

What she had was so different, and every night she was reminded of it when she came home.

_I bet none of my classmates live in an abandoned garage, _she thought with a snort.

People in her business couldn't exactly have offices, and having a big base meant that the members could stick together. Sure, it made them more of target but it didn't cancel out the rule of Safety in Numbers.

When Alexis had first joined her gang she'd been amazed to discover just how many groups there were. They were all different too; some were out of quick kills, some for revenge. Some had names; some were just loose gangs like hers. Some were so small that they only had one or two members while some were huge networks, so big it seemed impossible that they went unnoticed. But it had only been a few days since she'd discovered the existence of the Night World, and anything had seemed possible back then. It amazed her how quickly the impossible became a just another part of life.

And now she called the abandoned garage Shrapnel used as a base home, and the people there were her family. It was okay, in a way. She had a small bedroom to herself which used to be a store room, and while this meant that with just one window it wasn't the nicest place to spend time, she could always be alone if she wanted. Some of the others didn't get that luxury – small rooms were scarce and most had a more functional purpose such as weapons and food storage.

As she entered the building through the back door Laura, Shrapnel's girlfriend came jogging around the corner, obviously looking for something. That something turned out to be Alexis.

"Hey, I was just going to get you! Thought you were in your room. Shrapnel's calling a meeting, so dump your bag somewhere and come down to the training area." She gasped, brushing her bangs out of her eyes before moving towards the mousy-haired girl with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay? You look kinda ill?"

"Thanks Laura...I guess I'm just tired" Alexis replied with irritation.

The only thing that had kept her going all day was the promise of a few hours in a warm bed and hot food before going back on patrol. Trust Shrapnel to start early on the day when she felt dead on her feet.

Laura cocked her head to one side.

"That could be it? Did you eat before you came?"

She shook her head.

"Well grab something on your way down, you'll feel better if you do," she suggested before rushing off to round up the rest of the group. Alexis followed her, much more slowly, to drop off her heavy college bag before going down into the basement for the night's brief. She didn't get anything to eat though, she actually felt a little nauseous.

* * *

'The training area' was a little bit of a misleading title for the concrete floored section of the basement that the group gathered in. Sure, it was where they did most of their training, but it was quite low on the list of things the dull square was used for. More often than not it was used for briefs and de briefs like this, and you could tell that from the littering of leaves and mud on the floor that their boots invariably brought in from patrols. When the room was in use for training old gym mats would be covering the floor so there was no need to clean it up, but tonight the seven gang members were using them as seats - albeit it low, slippy inadequate seats – as they waited for Shrapnel to assign them duties.

"Okay, guys!" The lanky blond called out, clapping his hands together even though no one had been talking.

"It seems like we need a change of plan. As you've probably guessed, after last night I've decided that staking out the abandoned house on New Street is too dangerous for a small group like us."

He glanced at Alexis. She couldn't help liking him. His name didn't suit him – it was a nickname he'd been given a long time back, when he used to have about 40 piercings. He didn't have them now of course, but the name had stuck. In reality he was just a scrawny blond boy who didn't seem to have quite grown used to his new adult body yet. He wasn't even a great leader, but for what he lacked in leadership skills, he made up for with a genuine concern for every last one of them.

She'd met him around the same time she'd discovered vampires, in fact about 30 seconds afterwards, when he'd come in just in the nick of time to save her life like a hero in a comic book. She owed everything to him and _that _was why she stuck around no matter how useless he was at hunting vampires. Plus, he relied on her for advice a lot more than either of them would admit aloud.

"So basically, Michael and Bren, I want you on one of your normal patrols, and Laura and I will look through the local news for any new leads. Everyone else can go back to bed, eat pizza, whatever." He smiled a little apologetically at the members who'd been saddled with duties, and Alexis couldn't help but feel the surge of relief that ran through her – she could grab a hot drink and some food, and sleep for the whole night. She also couldn't help but notice that Jessica seemed to share her relief as a little colour came back into her chalky cheeks. Ignoring her aching muscles she pushed herself up off the blue mat and turned to leave.

"Actually..." Shrapnel called out and grabbed Alexis' arm as she passed. "I kinda need to talk to you. About yesterday."

She nodded. Even though the memories wouldn't be so fresh now, it was important that the group got the most information from her as they could. They didn't want to mess with those vampires again.

"Well, I got a good look as most of them, but that's it, there were so many – " she began, but he shook his head and glanced around.

"No, not that. It's about Jessica. I think I've found something for her. Come with me."

She followed him out of the training room and into the small room he used as his office/bedroom, and watched as he rummaged through the piles of letters, notepads and newspaper clippings covering the old workbench he used as a desk, before he came up holding a crumpled post-it note. He quickly checked it was the right one and handed it to her.

_0795745326 Melanie Circle Daybreak_

She looked up puzzled.

"What's 'Circle Daybreak'?" she asked. She'd never come across anything like it before. It sounded like some kind of a New Age group.

"I think it's exactly what Jessica needs" he replied with a genuine smile. "You're right. This _isn't_ what she's cut out for, she needs support and protection, not revenge, and that is exactly what this group provides. I heard about them a year ago, although back then it just seemed like a rumour. But a few months back I actually met one. A girl named Melanie."

"But what makes them different from any other hunter gang?" Alexis asked, sceptically.

Shrapnel suddenly seemed uncomfortable.

"They're not technically a hunter gang, they're more, well, _rehabilitation_ really." He began to tug on his ear. "And, um, not just for hunters either."

"So for people who've been attacked, that kind of thing?"

"Well, that too. But it's not exactly...human exclusive" he blushed.

Alexis froze.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked slowly.

"It's for Night Worlders too." He put his hand up to stop her erupting with the anger her face was so obviously betraying.

"But not just any blood suckers of the street! They're mostly witches who want to live peacefully with humans, and vampires who don't want to kill."

She snorted. As if she could trust a group of blood suckers, and humans stupid enough to believe that vampires didn't want to rip their throats out. She'd seen vampires when they weren't pretending- they didn't have consciences, they thought of humans as dumb animals.

Gently Shrapnel knelt next to her chair, with a look of his face that seemed sad and pitying at the same time.

"I know you don't trust them... I'm not asking you too. I want you to trust _me_. I've seen this place Alexis. It's amazing, they aren't scared, and hurting and hunted like we are."

His soft voice became bitter and his kind face twisted a little as though there was a bad taste in his mouth.

"You know I would never send her to somewhere where it wasn't safe. I guess it doesn't show that well, but I think of you all as my family. I would send you all there if I could. I don't want to see another one of you get hurt." He paused. "I can't stand to see another one of you die."

He had to look away and swallow before beginning again.

"That's why I want you to come with me and Jessica to check this place out. And maybe just one of us can escape this nightmare"

He made a sound that could have been a laugh, but it didn't really sound like one.

"Please Alexis?"

She sat staring at the desk, looking anywhere but at Shrapnel's pleading eyes. This world she lived in _was_ a nightmare, and that was why she would never trust this Circle Daybreak.

"I don't think that vampires will ever get along with humans Shrapnel." She said quietly, before lifting her head with a determined look in her eyes. "And you'll only endanger her by believing it could be true."


	3. A Fight

After that things with Shrapnel were different. She had left the office without a word disgusted, and they hadn't spoken since. She wasn't sure whether he was ashamed or angry at her, but her own anger had soon turned to a kind of lonely confusion. How could someone she had thought she knew so well believe that something like this Circle whatever could work?

Now they didn't even make eye contact anymore, and Alexis didn't want to admit it, but she missed him. She had tried spending time with the others, but it wasn't long before she'd gotten bored with talking about TV shows, and clothes - even books, and they were her true lifeline in this place. Her cramped room was almost full of them, but she hadn't been able to make herself sit still and read any of them over the past week, between classes and thinking about Jessica and Shrapnel.

All she wanted was a good night's sleep. She could live without anyone at the base at all if only she could feel rested again...

Tossing yet another unread volume into one of the cardboard boxes she used for storage Alexis fell onto the bed, her arms crossed beneath her pillow, and tried again to sleep.

And for the first time in a long time Alexis slept. She supposed that she must dream when she fell asleep, but if she did, then she never remembered them upon waking. Considering the things she saw every day she was glad about that.

* * *

A few hours later she was woken by a knock on the door, and she silently cursed the knocker. She hadn't slept like that for weeks, and she had been woken up too early. Her head was already pounding, and she felt a little sick.

"Whrut?" she snarled, pulling a pillow over her head angrily.

"Wake up sleepy head! Dinner's ready, and don't you dare go back to sleep, it's your turn to wash up." giggled Laura, obviously unaware of the barely suppressed rage the door was shielding her from.

With a groan she hauled herself out of bed, her head spinning a little. Looking down, she checked her clothes – crinkled but good enough - and followed the peroxide blonde down the steel steps that lead to the basement and into the kitchen.

Like the Training room, 'The Kitchen' was a another stretch of the imagination. It had been used for such because it had a sink in it, and enough room for a small fridge which one of the past members had found on the side of the road waiting to be thrown away. Still, space was gold in the base, and when the members weren't eating their microwave food on (or around) the table, it was used for just about everything else, and most of the surfaces were feet deep in newspapers.

As she entered the conversation died. The other members didn't know why things between the group had soured, but it was obvious something serious. The tension was thick enough to choke even an outsider. Meal times were hushed and awkward now without the pair of them chatting and discussing tactics, and her nights were getting harder to fill as she ran out of ways to entertain herself alone.

"Hey." She mumbled as she was silently handed a plate of microwave fries by Shrapnel. The plate was burning her fingers, but she was too proud to let it show as she carried it over to the table, pushing in between Sophie and Bren.

For the next five minutes everyone ate in silence, concentrating very hard on the meal in front of them. It was like they were waiting for something to happen, and praying it would happen a safe distance away from them. Alexis couldn't stand it for another second. It had been like that for more than a week now, every single time she and Shrapnel were together. It was driving her insane.

"I wish," she said clearly, "That people would admit it when they do something stupid."

"So do I." Shrapnel said through gritted teeth. Suddenly everyone found that their food was even more interesting than they had thought, even Bren, who had finished.

"Especially people who get taken in by some really _stupid_ lie, and can't see that they're wrong. That put other people in danger. That just gets me every time." She continued, getting louder.

"Or when they're too set in their ways to see past the end of their own nose and accept that not everything is black and white." He snarled back, shoving his empty plate down too hard and making a large pile of print outs thump onto the floor.

"No need to get worked up." Laughed Alexis sarcastically, rising to her feet. "You might get into a fight you can't win. Like always."

"As if." Shrapnel scoffed, straightening up. But before things could go any further Jessica sobbed loudly and stood up herself, looking firmly at the floor to hide her tears, her hands curled into fists.

"And _I_ wish that you'd both just SHUT UP!" she yelled, before running out of the door.

For a moment the two hunters just looked at each other dumbstruck, and then Shrapnel shook his head sadly at her and chased after the crying girl.

Alexis wasn't sure what to do. Part of her knew that she had just made a fool of herself, and part of her was still seething at Shrapnel. Eventually the anger won out and she kicked the table out of her way as she stalked out of the room. Behind her she heard Bren get up to leave as well.

"What the _hell_ happened there?" he exclaimed.

* * *

It had been a stupid mistake to go out alone. She couldn't focus on the task at hand. She was too angry, too distracted and too _tired_ to be out on the streets at night patrolling.

Especially alone. It was too dangerous for a hunter to go solo at the best of times, and this was defiantly not one of those.

_Come on, you idiot. If you don't focus and think like a predator you'll become a victim..._

The street she was walking down was darker than the rest; the lamps were further apart than they were on the busier roads, and the untrimmed bushes cast shadows across the pools of amber light that looked like twisted monsters. They reminded her of her childhood - creatures under the bed and in the depths of the closet. Only now she was a killer of monsters. She was the thing the monsters feared.

Just right now she'd didn't feel much like a killer. She felt like a fragile and oh so clumsily human. No matter how well worn her boots she could still hear her footfalls in the silence of the night, and see her breathing as it fogged and rose upwards. No, she didn't feel very much like a killer at all.

Vampires were much stronger than her, and she knew it. They were designed for this stuff. They wouldn't feel the cold of winter numbing their fingers and making them sluggish, and they wouldn't have any trouble seeing in the dark. The street lights would actually be a hindrance since they would ruin their night vision.

Then again, it was ruining Alexis's too, and that coupled with her mounting unease was making her skittish. Every bush seemed to contain a sinister shadow, every alleyway concealing an attacker just out of sight.

_Oh screw this,_ she decided. _I'm an idiot to go on patrol alone, and I'm no good when I'm like this. First I can't concentrate and now I'm scared out of my wits. Pathetic._

Turning sharply she made her way back to base, trying desperately not to look like the scared, seventeen year old girl she was.

* * *

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" Shrapnel screamed at her as she entered the building. He was red in the face, and somewhere between tears, screaming and hitting something. Alexis was too shocked to do anything but stare.

"What the _hell _have you even been_ doing?_ You just leave, alone, at _night_ without telling _anyone_! Who the hell do you think you are?"

She'd never seen him this angry or this scared and she felt ashamed.

"I went on patrol, I needed to think."

This had obviously been the wrong thing to say. At first he went purple with rage, then suddenly pale.

"I? Then where's Jessica? You mean..."

"I never took Jessica out with me. You were the one who followed after her." Alexis replied, confused.

"Then where...?"

She could read the guy like an open book as his emotions churned and his anger gave way to crashing, crushing fear.

"I thought she would be with you" he whispered, as if to himself.

Alexis shook her head mutely.

"Shit." He said calmly, and sprinted off back into the building. Alexis just slumped backwards, wincing as her weight made the metal door clang.

_Shit indeed..._


	4. A Family Broken

They had frantically searched the base, checking every room and stairwell, but it was hopeless. It was obvious what Jessica had done – most of her stuff was missing from her room.

No one in the base had any idea of where she would have gone either, and at last they had resigned themselves to a full scale search.

_At least_, Alexis though sadly, _Shrapnel and I aren't arguing anymore._

* * *

Jessica certainly hadn't chosen the best night to leave the base – the moon was almost totally obscured with cloud, and it was colder than it had been the day before, making it hard to see and move quickly for long. The air smelt like frost and the rusty metal that littered the ground, but at least the sounds of Shrapnel calling out for Jessica on the other side of the building made her less uneasy. There were too many places to hide out here in the back parking lot, and not enough places to run too, since it was fenced off with a barbed chain link fence.

That was why it was the two most experienced hunters that were checking out the really local area. That, and that fact that if Jessica was found this close to home after such a long time she probably wouldn't be a pretty sight. Hunters had a lot off enemies, and most of them had big teeth.

With a sigh she turned to leave, there wasn't anything on this side of the building that could help them find Jessica. She'd have been way too scared to walk through the darkness on this side of the building. Knowing her, she'd have run up the brightest lit street and into the city center as fast as she could. Maybe even straight back home to her family.

Then Alexis saw it – a shoe sticking out from behind one of the rusty yellow dumpsters that had been left in the parking lot when the place had been abandoned. It wasn't the kind of shoe she would wear – it was pink satin with an ivory base worn in places to the grey rubber underneath. And with a sick lurch in her stomach she saw that it was also attached to a foot.

With a strange detachment she began to walk slowly over, knowing before she saw it what she would see. Her instincts were telling her to run back to the base and lock the doors, the human part of her mind was screaming at her that she didn't want to see whatever it was that was behind that dumpster. She just couldn't stop herself as she moved closer, as if she were in a nightmare.

The foot was attached to a calf, attached to a thigh, attached to what used to be Jessica.

Some part of her mind noted that things could have been a lot worse. It hadn't been a werewolf or shapeshifter...Jessica still had all her bits in the right places. Bar her blood of course, because her throat had been torn wide open as the vampire had savagely gnawed and torn at her neck to take the last of the life from of her. At least she had probably been unconscious for that part.

Alexis knew she should run, warn Shrapnel, and _get out of here_. But she found herself reaching out to the girl she'd failed to save. One of her arms was firm against her, but the other reaching out as if to ask Alexis for help.

"There's no point in doing whatever you think you're doing, because she's dead."

Alexis whipped around so fast she almost fell. Behind her was a boy, about seventeen, maybe eighteen, with dark hair and dark eyes. He was also obviously the vampire who had killed Jessica. He was standing like one of them, and yes, there on his lips was a tell-tale bloom of red bleeding into the creases of his lips. Noticing her horrified gaze he licked his lower lip slowly and grinned.

_So Jessica did end up getting me killed in the end..._

"Oh, don't worry your little head about me, vermin. I wasn't hungry before I killed her, and I'm certainly not now." He grinned again, having read her thoughts. A cold, disturbing grin that made Alexis more afraid than she'd ever been in her life.

"...Then why...?"

"My Father sent me to speak to you, but I thought that this would be a much more..._effective_ message. It's what will happen to you and you little boyfriend there if you don't listen very carefully and do exactly what you're told." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder as he spoke, but Alexis didn't take her eyes of him, constantly waiting for him to lunge.

"Good. I can see that you're listening. My Father is an important man, and I'd hate to keep him waiting. It seems that you've gained his interest, vermin, and that can be both dangerous and profitable."

Alexis choked in disbelief.

"I've never met your father in my life."

Now the boy was starting to get annoyed with her, and the grin turned to a look of superior contempt.

"Don't act like an idiot. As if you'd know my father personally. Vermin like you, and a vampire like him...I don't even know why he wants _you_, the leader of some petty 'hunter' gang. We should just wipe you out totally. You're worse than vermin."

Without any warning he rushed her off her feet and pinned her against the chain link fence with a crash. Alexis had never been this close to a living vampire, not since the day she'd been saved from one. She'd almost forgotten how inhuman they looked at this distance.

His skin was smooth and almost luminescent in the moon light, making his eyes burn. And his eyes –before they had been black, they now had a strange sheen to and purples and greens flicked below the surface as though she could see his soul through them. But it was his fangs she was worried about. Just inches from her face, he deliberately showed them to her, seeming to enjoy the terror that went through her as he did.

"Remember this – tomorrow night come to the end of New Street where my father first saw you. It doesn't matter when you come. We'll be waiting for you. And don't even think about telling any of your friends, because if you do we'll slaughter you all. You wouldn't believe the things we know about you. Your likes, your habits, even which seat you like to sit in class. Be smart."

With this he dropped her to the ground and left faster than her eye could follow.

For a moment she sat there, shocked and winded, before screaming out for help.

Within seconds Shrapnel was by her side, crying himself as he saw Jessica lying there, so obviously dead, and Alexis slumped on the floor screaming and clutching her throat.

"Are you okay? Alexis are you okay?" he demanded, reaching out a trembling hand, to move her clawed fingers from her neck. She shook her head and began to sob earnestly.

She didn't think she'd be alright ever again.


	5. A Resolve

After that everything seemed to be happening in a high speed blur. Scooping her up into his arms, Shrapnel staggered back to the base, grunting with the effort it took to lift Alexis.

She was a dead weight in his arms – too shocked to care about her surroundings, or where she was going. Too scared. He had never seen her really scared before. Sure, on patrol and in fights she must have been terrified underneath it all, but she hid it well. They all did – it was how you survived. .. why Jessica hadn't.

Only now Alexis was trembling, and he didn't know how to make her stop. He was surprised that he could even focus enough to notice it, because his own emotions where tumbling through him faster than water down a waterfall – crashing into him and sending him reeling. Yet he still retained his clear head somewhere beneath it all. He could grieve and cry and scream and blame himself when the rest of them were safe.

_Oh God, the others are still out there. What on earth do I do now?_

As gently and quickly as he could he pushed open the metal doors with his shoulder, making sure not to hit Alexis with it, who still hadn't even opened her eyes, and made sure it was closed behind him. He knew it wouldn't do much good against a vampire, but the noise of the metal hinges giving way or even just the door crashing open would give him enough warning to get ready to fight.

Whatever had killed Jessica was still out there, and even though it was killing him to leave her body behind, he had to. He couldn't risk anymore time out there with a vampire roaming free, and he could barley carry Alexis as it was.

He rushed breathless and rapidly tiring through the dark corridors of the base as he struggled to keep a grip on Alexis's limp body. If he put her down he wouldn't be able to pick her up again, and she wasn't in any state to help herself stand. Besides, the passageways were so narrow it was all he could do not to scrape either of them against the jagged bricks and patches of crumbling plaster that clung resiliently onto the walls of the old building. It would take some thought to even just put her down without hurting at least one of them.

He paused to adjust his grip as she began to slide out of his arms, and battled on for what seemed an eternity before he came to Alexis's box room, and with more of a fumbled collapse than anything else, they both fell haphazardly onto the bed. Instinctively Shrapnel gathered her into his arms. It was as much comfort for him as it was for her.

"Alexis." He said gently, rocking her slightly as if she were a small child. "It's safe, we're inside. Please tell me you're okay. I need to call the others in fast, but I can't leave you alone like this. _Please_."

The girl remained motionless and pale - her eyes squeezed shut as if she were expecting a blow. Never had he seen this side of her. She was always so full of fiery emotion, or as calm and focused as a hawk, but right now she looked younger than he'd ever seen her. More vulnerable -and it made the pain in his chest double. Whatever had happened out there had been terrible. More terrible than anything Alexis had faced out of the streets with his gang.

He'd failed Jessica, and he's failed Alexis, his best friend in the world.

For a moment more he held her against his chest before carefully lifting her face up towards him.

'_She looks so beautiful like this.'_, he noted numbly. It was a forbidden thought, and totally inappropriate, but undeniably true. If she had died tonight – if she died at all - he wouldn't be able to go on.

Of course he cared for Laura, probably loved her, but Alexis was something different – she was that unattainable, impossible girl. She wasn't just a great fighter, or beautiful, or passionate. She was his equal and his best friend. Someone to talk tactics with. Someone to _learn_ from. He knew he wasn't a good leader. Sure, he was good with people, but that wasn't nearly enough. Alexis completed him. She had the skill and the experience and inspired the respect that he sorely lacked. They made the perfect team.

With a ragged breath he pulled away from her, tenderly rolling her over and covering her shivering body with the thin quilt. He just couldn't stop crying no matter what he tried, and his tears were splashing hot and wet all over the bed as he shifted her into a better position.

"Don't cry." She whispered as he pulled away from her, her eyes open at last.

"I can't help it." He choked, scrubbing his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I'm not cut out for this like you. I guess I'm not strong enough."

Slowly she grasped his hand, pulling it away from his face.

"If you're not strong why am I the one who's being taken care of?" she said, almost managing a sad smile, but she was still too shaken to manage it.

The tremors that had run through her body had left her feeling as weak as a kitten, and there was a sensation in her chest that felt like numbness, but threatened to bubble over into her own tears at any second. Seeing Shrapnel looking so lost with tears running down his cheeks made it harder and harder not to start crying herself.

"Call the others back home. It's safe – he's gone."

"Are you sure? What did he say to you?" Shrapnel asked, very aware that she was still holding his hand in hers. It was warm and comforting, and he didn't feel so afraid.

"Nothing. Just that he killed her, and that – "she closed her eyes again to squash back the tears that threatened to reappear. "...that he wasn't hungry anymore."

* * *

If Alexis had thought that the thoughts running though her head before were torture, then words couldn't describe how she felt now. After Shrapnel had checked her over one last time he'd told her to 'sleep'. What a strange concept. As if she'd ever sleep again.

Biting her pillow to stop the emotions from flooding out she realised that it was entirely possible that she would actually never sleep again. Tomorrow night was looming like a tidal wave on the horizon, getting closer and closer to the shore to drown her. And she was scared. So scared that she didn't know what to do or think. Either way, tomorrow night she would probably die.

She wondered what death would feel like. To have her throat ripped open by that dark-haired vampire, or by the red haired one who she now realised had to be the man who wanted to meet her. She hadn't gotten away after all, and neither had Jessica.

_Poor Jessica, who had never had a chance. It would have been kinder for her to die that first night rather than have her know this half-life before she died._

Alexis couldn't get her out of her mind, her arm reaching out as if for someone to save her. Asking Alexis to join her. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw it over and over. Her shoe lying there, drawing Alex's eyes upwards to the blue eyes that were dead and staring, her gashed throat. Her throat. Her bleeding throat.

Crying she began to punch her bed, making strange animalistic noises in the back of her throat. She wanted to kill the vampire who'd killed Jessica, the vampire who would kill her later that night, the vampire who had initiated her into this world. Herself for being so weak. The whole damn world for existing.

She didn't know how long she was like that, but eventually her arms felt like jelly, and her shoulders ached. Spent, she flopped down onto the bed and softly began to cry again. She was going insane in this tiny little space, the growing bird song outside was mocking her with its cheerful normality.

She slipped out of bed and dressed without caring what she was putting on. All she knew was that if she stayed there in that tiny room she's start screaming again, and this time she'd never stop. The whole building was claustrophobic. Her bedroom door seemed to echo throughout the labyrinth of corridors, the walls closing in on her and trying to keep her there by scratching at her clothes.

Even the main door seemed heavier than ever before as she left the base. She looked back into the gloom as she stepped out onto the frost covered parking lot. A part of her felt guilty that Shrapnel might find her missing again, and after what she'd put him through he really didn't deserve that, but her head was so messed up that she'd so crazy if she stayed for another second. She gently let the door close so that no one would know she was gone, and silently walked away from the base and down the street after street, not caring where she was going.

She had been shocked to see a grey-white sky above her when the whole world seemed so dark. The night had passed so quickly, and yet had been so long. She wandered aimlessly down the frosty sidewalks, trying to savour her last day on earth and think clearly. She couldn't just resign herself to this death, but she couldn't think of any way out of it.

If she told the group about it, they'd never let her go and they would all die. But if she went, she'd be killed, and they would probably die too anyway. If she ran, the others would get killed, but she wouldn't really have much more of a chance of escape...

She hadn't wanted to lie to Shrapnel back there, but she knew she couldn't tell him what that vampire had told her. She needed to protect her family, Shrapnel especially – he was special to her. He was useless in battle, a terrible tactician - a liability in almost every way. And yet he was everything she needed. He was the person that reminded her of all the good that there still was in the world. The only one who _really_ cared about every member of the group. He was a hero who saved her life.

Mustering up all her courage she decided that she couldn't warn them. They were her family; if she had to die to give them the best chance of survival then she didn't even need to think about that twice.

_So...this is my last day on earth. It's as good as any. _

* * *

Alexis had never noticed the world around her before. Not really noticed. She realised as she walked along the silver, December streets that she had spent her life looking without seeing.

There was so much _detail_ in the world. The way the ice clung to the sides of the leaves in the park made them look like they were edged in silver. The way people she shared the sidewalk with, in their hats and gloves, hurrying to get out of the cold, all had entire lives worth of stories to tell, people they loved, things they could do no one else could. And she was jealous of every last one of them. The children playing in the park with their whole lives ahead of them, their parents happily chatting away, talking about their Christmas plans together. They all got to grow up, have normal lives.

And Alexis would always be 17 now no matter what. The Night World was going to take her new life from her just like it took away her old one. It was bitter and dark and twisted, but it was better than nothing at all. She didn't know what she thought the afterlife would be like, but she was sure she didn't believe in Heaven and Hell. And even if they were real, she doubted she'd get into Heaven. She'd dedicated her new life to killing, even if they were vampires.

Eventually her legs got too cold and tired to walk anymore, and she sank onto a frosty park bench and began to scratch swirling patterns into the icy layer of frost that covered everything from the ground to the children's play area. It was beautiful, but so bitter, freezing little fingers and making them stick, as if it knew that in a few hours the weak winter sun would melt it away, and hated them all for it.

'_Human lives are just as transient as this frost..._' she thought dimly, warming her fingers again under her arms.

Then a girl caught her attention – her hands were bare, and her coat unzipped even in the crisp air as she walked down the winding asphalt path. Even from this distance she knew the girl was a vampire, and her resigned jealously of the world turned into a hot rage at this girl for being what she was. How dare she be everything that Alexis didn't have, be everything Alexis wanted to be, and yet still be a monster?

The world was so unfair she wanted to scream. An inhuman killer, with friends and strength and happiness. She didn't have to worry about dying. That girl could live for a thousand years if she was lucky.

Furious and disgusted with herself, she stormed out of the park and headed home. It didn't seem like a silver sanctuary anymore, and she hated herself for being jealous of a leech. That animal got everything in her life by stealing it from others. Alexis would never stoop so low. She was willing to give up her life for her 'family' wasn't she?

Now that it was getting later she wasn't as sure as she thought she was. Death seemed so final. A lot realer now than it had seemed earlier in her feverish mind. Now she was calmer she didn't feel like being a hero, she felt like running.

She shook her head. Of course she'd feel that way; it'd be stupid not too. Soon it would be dark, and she had a lot of goodbyes to make. More than she could bear.


	6. A Trip Into the Unknown

By night even the rundown neighbourhood Alexis called home was beautiful. The silvery frost that had covered everything during the day was transformed into a deep gold by the streetlights, and the frost covered the sidewalk glittered all the colours of the rainbow.

At first she hadn't felt the chill in the air. She had been too full of emotions from seeing everyone for what was probably the last time, that, and pure and simple fear. Seeing Shrapnel had been the hardest - he hadn't come out of his room since the night before, when he had finally gotten everyone home safe. It didn't surprise her. He always took things the hardest, and showed it the most. Others had died before of course, it was part of the job, but they had all been out fighting. This time Shrapnel had a real excuse to blame himself. He probably blamed her too. It was her actions that had led to Jessica staying there, and it made her ashamed. She didn't deserve Shrapnel's friendship.

She tucked her hands deep into her pockets in a mix of humiliation, fear and icy fingers.

Waiting on the street corner was one of the greatest tests of will she'd ever had to face. Waiting for death felt like being in line for a big rollercoaster. The one you realised as you approached that you really didn't want to ride, but it was too late to chicken out now... Only a hundred times worse, a blinding mixture of adrenalin and anticipation that made her want to turn tail and flee. But she forced herself to focus on everything around her to stop her mind from wandering. The cold making her ears numb, the way her breath floated around her face and up into the air. But t all reminded her how alive she was, and soon wouldn't be.

There were no stars – either from light pollution or clouds, she wasn't sure. She hoped it wasn't an omen.

LINE BREAAAAAAAAAAK

After what seemed an eternity she heard the whisper of a vehicle approaching though the gloom. As it turned into the small dead-end road its powerful high beams blinded her momentarily, ruining her night vision, and she instinctively shielded her eyes with her arm.

It was the same car that she had seen before, and again it stuck her with a terror that froze her to the spot. Before she even thought of abandoning her resolve and running it was gliding to a stop beside her. Immediately the driver's door opened, and a young man stepped out, every bit as graceful as the car, and came around onto the sidewalk to greet her.

"Miss Thornton I assume," he said smoothly, and with absolute confidence. It was a voice that seemed to say that its owner knew everything about you, from your name to what toothpaste you used. Everything about him was the same – cool and purposeful. His suit was immaculate and expensive looking, and so were his black sunglasses.

_Who wears sunglasses at night?_ she wondered thought a haze of shock. The terror had been replaced with a strange confusion. This wasn't how she had expected the meeting to begin. The bloodsuckers she knew didn't call her 'Miss Thornton', and they certainly didn't look like presidential bodyguards. The man smiled mockingly.

"It is not advisable, Miss, to keep my Boss waiting. If you would...?" he opened the door to the back of the car for her with another disturbing pseudo-smile and gestured towards it with sweepingly.

"Don't worry, you're quite safe with me. It's more than my life's worth to get in the way of his plans."

With a deep breath she slipped passed him and slid into the soft leather seat feeling dazed. Just as quickly as before he closed the heavy car door, and she heard the telltale clunk of the locks falling into place. The car was luxurious and smelt like new leather and expensive women's perfume, and at any other time she would have loved to be in a vehicle like this, but she was beginning to panic. The doors were locked, and she was definitely trapped. And on top of that the glass was very thick – most likely soundproof – and so dark that no one would see her if she tried to signal for help. Worst of all, she had put herself into this situation willingly.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid _she ranted silently, balling her hands into fists. _Only the most stupid, pathetic looser would get into a car with a vampire .If only I had told everyone else I wouldn't be in here. Shrapnel – _

Shrapnel. Laura. Bren. Michael. _Everyone_. She was doing this to keep them safe. To protect her family.

Around her the car purred into life, and slipped off into a smooth U-turn and away into the darkness.

LINE BREAAAAAAAAAAK

At first she had hoped to be able to tell where she was going, but she soon accepted it was hopeless. The windows were almost black, and at night there was no chance to see anything more than the monochrome balls of light from the streetlights that they passed.

She wasn't scared anymore, just resigned. Through thick pane of glass separating the front and back of the car she could see the man with the designer suit, driving effortlessly and with just as much precision as he seemed to do everything else. He hadn't even removed his sunglasses. She tapped on the glass, not expecting him to acknowledge her, but he turned around, not even bothering to keep one eye on the road ahead of him.

"You don't have to tap on the glass you know – you'll leave finger marks. The intercom is on."

She blushed a little. She hadn't thought he could hear her, and at first she had been whimpering quietly in her desperation to get out of the car, and it made her squirm to think that he had heard it all, probably enjoyed it.

"Oh." She said lamely. "I – I just wanted to know how much farther we have to go."

"Not much father. But I guess you're in no hurry to get there anyway, right?" He still hadn't so much as glanced at the road.

"Heh, yeah...But, where are we actually going?" she pressed. It was worth a try.

He slid his glasses a little down his nose and looked over them at her scornfully. His eyes made her jump – they were golden like an eagle's or a cat's, and just as predatory. They made her feel as helpless as a baby mouse between a lion's paws.

"Miss Thornton. I am not as stupid as you seem to think I am." He said coldly, and turned his attention back to the road, but not before touching something beside the wheel that she suspected was the on/off button for the intercom. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. It really had been a long shot.


	7. A Proposition

_Wake up._

Alexis was in a sea of darkness, drifting in that blissful place somewhere between waking and dreamless sleep where you're was only just aware that you even exist.

_Wake up._

__Only there was something that was trying to drag her closer to the waking world. Something harsh and cool that didn't belong in her bubble of warm carelessness. She wanted it to leave her alone, which only made things worse. She could already feel smooth material under her hands as she resurfaced.

_Wake up NOW._

This time the voice wasn't just an unwelcome suggestion, but a mandatory command that ran through her like an electric shock, literally jerking her awake. As her eyes flew open, all remnants of her strange sleep disappeared and she glanced around angrily for whoever had woken her up, only to find herself alone and in a strange room. She wrinkled her brow, confused as she cautiously lifted herself from the small couch on which she had been lying and stared. Everything around her screamed expense. The walls were a dark polished wood, and the room was spacious with furniture to match, probably antique – who ever lived here must be the richest person she'd ever met.

_Where the hell am I?_

Trying to be as quiet as she could she padded over to the nearest window, and moved back the heavy red drapes covering it, only to see a young girl with haunted eyes staring back at her. The outside world was so dark that all she could see was her own reflection.

She reached out to touch the cool glass as if she were still dreaming.

In her entire life she had never seen darkness like that. There had always been street lights, car headlamps and store fronts lighting up her nights like a Christmas tree. Wherever she was, you couldn't even see the moon in the sky, and that unsettled her to the core. The silence too – a heavy, amplifying type of silence that made her worried to move in case something heard her.

_There's a door to your left. Go through it._

She jumped. There was the voice again – it half triggered memories in her that made her even more disorientated. The animal part of her brain was telling her that its owner was someone to be very, very afraid of.

But she had no choice but to do as it said. Gingerly she pushed open the heavy wooden door and moved into the room beyond.

Whereas the room before had been dark and surreal this room was so bright and vivid that it seemed to surpass normality and come out the other side, so real it was hard to believe that the grey world she lived in was anything but a cheap imitation of it. From the depth and hues of every color in the paintings on the walls to the red wood paneling, which was so deep that it looked as if it was lit from behind, it was overwhelming.

And it suited the man behind the desk perfectly. She recognized him somehow, but not fully. His hair was red too, not in the orangey blonde sense she was used to, but a true, impossible, unnatural red. And his golden eyes were fixed upon her, expectant and superior, yet mocking.

Another flash of memory. A pang of fear she couldn't place.

Silenced stretched on, and still she wasn't sure where she was, or what was expected of her. The man sat motionless and watched her unblinkingly.

"This house is beautiful" she managed at last.

Finally the man looked away and smiled to himself as he shuffled papers on his desk. She couldn't help but feel that he had been testing her somehow. She didn't know if she has passed or failed.

"I'm glad you like it. It's not mine, only rented. I spend most of my time in Las Vegas you see, so I don't want anything permanent I have to maintain."

Suddenly he looked her right in the eye and smiled again. A different kind of smile this time - the first had been mocking, the second smug…this one made her uneasy.

"It could be yours though, if you like"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He moved away from the desk and over to a cabinet to his left.

"Would you like a drink, Miss Thornton?"

"No –" she began but there it was again, memory fighting to resurface. Someone had called her that before, another man with the same predatory eyes. Someone she had been afraid of.

"Where am I? Who _are_ you?" she demanded at last. This whole set up felt like a strange game, and she didn't want to play it.

"Don't worry, it'll all come back to you soon. It happens sometimes. Humans are so fragile that quite often we don't realize just how little it takes to damage you. But." Another smile. "It's nothing permanent"

_Human._

_Human._

_Human._

She fixated on those words, running them through her head like they were the answer to all her questions. Then it all snapped back into place. Her mind felt like a rubber band that had just been released.

"You're the one I saw that night. You sent that monster after me. You're the reason why Jessica is _dead._" she gasped.

There was a panic in her now. The unknown fear had broken into a harsh terrifying reality as she remembered it all at once, like a blow that sent her reeling.

"Oh God don't kill me."

She hadn't meant to say it. It sounded pathetic and childish and went utterly against the resolve that had brought her there, but there it was.

The man just laughed.

"Miss Thornton, I am not in the habit of chauffeuring my food around the city and scaring them witless with messengers like I'm the villan of a cheap horror film... But yes, you know me. And when you hear what I have to say, you'll be glad you do. Please, take a seat."

There was no way Alexis was going to sit down with that bloodsucker. This whole room was made of wood, surely she could –

_Sit. Listen._

And she sat. Listened.

"You have been brought here because of luck, Alexis. There's no other reason for it. Well, fate might be a better word, but that's a tad over dramatic."  
Smile again.

_He smiles too much for a bloodsucker, _she thought.

"You've probably noticed that I'm hardly your run of the mill vampire, I mean, you're an intelligent human. That's why I chose you." He paused and poured himself a drink from the cabinet.

"Maybe not _just_ luck then. But anyway, men like me make enemies, and the only way you can really be safe from your enemies is to destroy them. And that's why I need you. You are going to be my insider, you're going to report back to me with details on my enemies if and when I tell you."

Alex's choked, the shock clearing a little of the blurriness that had begun to cloud her thoughts yet again. Her, some kind of spy? Who did he think she was?

"What? Why? _How?_"

Yet another smile. Through the last lingering remnants of mental haze and fear she began to feel a familiar fiery anger flicker.

"Simple. You're the leader of a gang of vampire 'hunters'. We need information about you, but we need it from someone they already trust, already know. We can't just send in someone and expect them to open like a book, not even vermin are that stupid."

There was a pause as it all sank into Alexis' stunned consciousness.

"You want me to betray _everyone_. Not just my friends, not just my _family_ but every fucking hunter I _know_. No Way!" She was shouting now. The uncertainty was gone, the fear, the hazy thoughts, the urge to just submit. That fire had taken hold.

"I won't let you bloodsuckers win, I'd rather d-"

Vampires moved fast. Somewhere between the beginning and end of the word 'die' she found herself pinned against the paneling, the vampire holding her there one handed with ease. Her ears were ringing from the impact her skull had made when it smacked into the wall, and she was winded, gasping for air.

"You think we need you to get information on your pathetic gangs of idiots? You think you're hidden so well? Think about it." He brought his face so close to hers it seemed like he was about to kiss her. It felt disgustingly intimate.

"What else kills _vampires, _huh? All we need to do is figure out where the attacks happen and we have you. We _eat_ you, in fact. And yet you think you're so clever, so important. Winning."

Slowly he turned his face, moving as if to put his mouth to her neck, but instead hovered over her ear, and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"The winning side is mine. And what is so great about this life you have anyway? I wouldn't live like you for the world. Disgusting food, disgusting home, no friends, no family. No future to speak of bar violent, messy death. I mean" He laughed softly into her ear, making her squirm. "right now you could say no. Die right here like your friend. I didn't ask Quinn to kill her by the way, but in hindsight I think it was a pertinent example.

Or, you could be safe from all the monsters that haunt you. Forever."


	8. A Family Betrayed

Alexis froze. What was this vampire offering her? She wasn't sure, but she knew that she shouldn't give him anything he wanted. If he was so powerful he wouldn't need her.

But she couldn't say it. Couldn't even seriously think it, because there was no doubt in her mind that if she did, she would die. Forming those words would take as much suicidal resolve as jumping off a skyscraper, or holding a gun to her head.

"I'm glad that you're thinking about this offer carefully" he whispered into her ear again, and pulled back. As he did, he gently released her, and let her drop back down to the floor.

"So you see, you don't really have any real options here, but that's a _good _thing, because the right choice will be the one that benefits us both."

He moved back to his desk, and steepled his fingers. He could have been any rich business man, if it weren't for his expression. Reptilian eyes and a cold smile.

"What...what are you even offering me? What do you even want me to do, I don't understand."

"Power. Money. Protection. Anything you want, I can easily provide. And in return all I want is information."

She wanted to tell him that she didn't know anything he would want to know, she was just a grunt in the grand scheme of things. The most secret thing she had access too was the code on Laura's bike lock.

"Oh, but I already know that you can get me what I need Alexis," he said, plucking her thoughts from the air. It made her shudder to be invaded like that. "I can see its name in your mind. I didn't know about it when we first met, I simply followed you out of curiosity...but there it was. You spent all night broadcasting it, but I need more than a name. This Circle Daybreak, I need you to find out everything you can."

Alexis was gobsmacked. This guy was searching for the group of hippies Shrapnel had been talking to her about. He must be crazy.

Or maybe Circle Daybreak was something bigger, more serious than she thought.

"Why? I don't even know what that group is." she protested weakly.

"I don't need you too. It's a scourge on the natural order of things, a threat to the Night World, and also a threat to you. Vampires leaving the Night World and breaking our rules, out of control vampires in the company of deluded humans." He paused, and pressed a button underneath his desk. "Find out everything you can about them, bring me the details tomorrow night."

The last part hit her mind like a fist, and she realized she was being controlled again. She tried to fight it off, but at that moment she jumped as a hand fell on her shoulder from behind. Turning, she saw the vampire who had picked her up standing behind her. He looked the same, he even had his glasses on indoors. She hoped that meant she had only been knocked out for the night. She had been going missing far too often recently.

The two vampires stood in silence for a moment before the one behind her nodded, as if the red-head had spoken. It was unnerving.

The hand suddenly began to put pressure on her shoulder, forcing her to turn and move towards the door she had come through.

"Don't forget Alexis – we'll be watching you. Closely" he called after her.

_I think it's time for you to go to sleep now though. _

* * *

When she woke she was in her own bed, and that scared her. Not just because it meant that vampires had gotten into the base undetected, but that it might all have been a dream. And if she let herself believe it was a dream she wasn't sure where to go from there.

Above her a fly circled slowly, trapped. She caught it gently in her hand, and let it fly through the small window in her room.

She wondered if maybe it was grateful.

Her mind spinning and unsure, she got dressed and went down to breakfast.

* * *

It was odd, seeing them all again, and having everything be normal. With everything that had happened n the last 24 hours, it was strange being the only one that knew about it. It occurred to her again that it might all have been a dream. But she was sure it wasn't.

There was a heavy silence over the group as they ate, Jessica's death weighing heavily on everyone's mind. It was strange, but Alexis had almost forgotten about Jessica. It certainly seemed like months since that had happened, even though it had been just over a day.

Shrapnel looked the worst of them all, his face was ashen and he looked worn thin. Laura had pulled him into her lap, but he seemed not to have noticed. He stared out across the small room, unseeing. It would take a long time for the guilt to subside, she knew from experience.

She got herself a bowl of dry cornflakes, and sat down with the others to think. What was she going to do? She knew that she should forget about what the vampires had said – they would kill them all anyway, she knew that deep down. Better that they didn't know, and he would be left without his information. But what he had said had struck a chord in her deep down.

_No more monsters._

She wanted to forget it, but it kept shuffling to the forefront of her mind. She could take a risk – if she was going to die, what could she loose by cooperating in exchange for protection. She could have a house, a normal life. She could go back to being a person again. If anyone could do it, It was probably that vampire.

She stood, half lying to herself that she didn't know why. But she knew. She kept making heroic resolves and breaking them. She was a coward. She was human.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked as Alexis threw half of her cornflakes in the trash.

"Yeah." she replied. She was going to come up with some kind of excuse, but there seemed little point. She had made her decision back there in that man's room. She had decided her life was more important than theirs by saying no, and she couldn't stand to be around them anymore.

She left the kitchen, and walk down stairs to the training room. She was in no hurry. She had all the time in the world now. If she lived she would be able to forget about this place, and if she didn't she didn't have anything better to do on her last day alive.

The training room was dark, and it smelt of newspaper print and leaf mulch. She didn't both to flick the light switch on, just walked through the darkness to where she knew the door to Shrapnel's room was. The handle was cold, and it took a lot of effort for her to push it down and open the door.

Inside it was even darker, and she was to turn on the light. The room was a mess of paper, photographs of vampires and newspaper articles were pinned to the walls, but it was easy to spot the post it note she had been shown the day before. It lay in the waste paper basket, bright yellow on grey, as if it were being highlighted by the universe as her ticket out of her life. She stepped forward, reached out, and pocketed it.

As soon as she did, she head footsteps coming down the stairs, and she switched the office light off as fast as she could, before slipping outside into the training room. A moment later Shrapnel came around the corner. They looked at each other for a moment.

Alexis felt like she should feel guilty, that note in her pocket should be burning her, but it wasn't. She felt oddly numb. She might even have said she was just acting on the vampire's orders, but she wasn't. He had gotten to her much more effectively than that.

_No more monsters. Yeah._

"Are you okay?" he asked her, showing the most emotion she had seen since he had managed to get Jessica's body inside.

She nodded.

"Alexis...I'm sorry. I have no idea...last night, I mean." he seemed at a loss, unsure how to say what he was thinking and feeling. "I have no idea what it must have been like for the night before last. And I know that I haven't spoken to you since, and that we've been arguing...but I just want you to know, we're your family. We love you."

She nodded again, and walked past him and up the stairs into the darkness.


	9. A Decision

That night she found herself drawn to the spot where she had waited the night before. But she knew that even without the vampire's suggestion planted firmly in her head she would have gone. This time she was not afraid. She felt numb - she had since she had made her decision. She barely even felt the cold as she waited.

"Miss Thornton."

It was a different vampire this time, dark chocolate colored skin, with close cut brown hair and dazzlingly white teeth. He was wearing the same suit and glasses that the other had, but instead of an air of superiority, this one seemed to be enjoying his job much more like a normal human. He opened the door with a chuckle and a theatrical bow as she got inside without a word.

"I'm not supposed to be talking to you," he said conspiratorially, "but I'm curious...what's a big shot like Hunter doing sending out his nicest car and best people for...someone like you?"

She had resolved to keep silent this time, but she was intrigued, and this seemed like a chance to find out more about the man with the read hair.

"Can't you just read my mind?" she asked, trying to sound bored.

The man looked mildly annoyed.

_Not a great telepath then, _ she noted for future reference. She was on much more equal footing with this one that the others. Yesterday she would have tried to use this information to escape, but now she just wanted to know as much about her new 'boss' as possible.

"If I tell you, you'd better tell me something I don't know first."

He shrugged.

"I don't know about that. Seems like Hunter wouldn't like it."

"Well if he told you not to talk to me you're already in trouble." she noted.

The guy shook his head, looking worried.

"Yeah", he muttered, and turned off the telecom.

_Damn._

* * *

The ride was long, and at any moment she expected to lose consciousness, but either because of the vampire's weak telepathy, or maybe because of her compliance she found herself moving on through the night completely aware. Not that it helped, the ride was so long she would have had no hope of even guessing her location.

At last she felt the car drive over gravel and come to a stop, and she unbuckled her seatbelt, expecting the driver to come and let her out, but instead he simply sat there, as though waiting for something.

* * *

She felt material under her face, and she had her eyes closed. This was important...somehow...but right now she wasn't sure why.

_Wake up._

She began to resurface much more rapidly, the memories of her last visit spurring her on. Yes, she remembered now, the couch and the red office. A car and vampires and very important yellow pieces of paper.

There was something very important to remember about yellow pieces of paper.

_Wake up._

And she did. She lifted herself off the couch and upright, and found herself in an utterly different room to the one she had been in before. This room was all pearly whites and copper-golds, and it was not an office but a dining room. That thought made her blood run cold for a moment, but then she remembered her plan. She forced herself to focus on the plan.

_Hello Alexis. I'm so glad you decided to come. I'll be with you in a minute._

It was his voice, the man with the red hair. Inside her mind it sounded like a purr almost. The sound of a lazy big cat, utterly in control of everything in it's sphere of existence.

She stood up, and began to look around for anything that might help her to get an advantage in the situation, but the room was devoid of any personality but the one that the vampire, Hunter, gave across so strongly. It was a room that looked like it could put a whole class through college if it were to be stripped and sold. And classic and tasteful, the kind of house that reeked of 'old money.'

The door behind her opened, and she turned to see Hunter stride through them with a wide smile. He gestured for her to sit, and nervously she did. She remembered the force he had used to pin her against the wall just the other night.

"So," he said, steepling his fingers again, "I think we can move past the standard chit chat and get right to the point...what do you have for me?"

The last lines felt exactly like his command to return, as if he was commanding her with his mind as well as with his mouth. But she fought hard to stick to the plan. She concentrated as hard as she could on the texture of the lacquered wooden table, imaging her mind were made of wood itself. Ready to repel vampires.

Hunter looked angry, and a little surprised.

"You haven't gone back on your decision I hope." he said warningly. "I suggest you play nice."

She shook her head, trying not to feel too triumphant.

"I will, but first I want some guarantees that you are going to keep your end of the bargain."

"Hmm," he said, looking at her strangely. "What makes you think I wont?"

"Everything."

He laughed loudly, his head thrown back, then he smiled at her warmly.

"But, what is it you even want?" he asked, looking curious, as though she had caught his interest against his better judgement. He was probably not used to humans getting in his way.

She stopped short. She hadn't really formed a full plan of what she wanted from him, just the basics. She wanted a home, security, family, friends, not to have to check over her shoulder all the time for monsters. But she also knew that she couldn't _really _have those things, not under Night World law. Even if she was actually given them by Hunter, which seemed unlikely, she would need to constantly look out for monsters even then. She didn't know how she could win, so she simply sat there, not saying a word.

Hunter tapped his fingers impatiently.

"You can have anything you want, money, a home, power, influence..." _tell me what you want._

The telepathy came as a shock, jolting an answer out of her before her brain could check if it's what she wanted to say.

"I want to be like you."

They both looked at each other, a little stunned. Then he smiled, a smug smile.

"You want to be a vampire?"

That wasn't what she had meant. She had meant to have a house like him, to not be afraid like him, but suddenly it all made sense. Her escape from her life was suddenly crystal clear...to escape from her life, she would truly need to start a new one.

"Yu...Yeh..Yes" she choked out.


	10. A Moment of Doubt

The days after that passed in a blur. Hunter had sent her home, telling her that next time she had better have information for him. She would have. But not the note, that was her insurance. There was no way she could trust Hunter to keep up with his end of the bargain.

And what a bargain. It filled her mind, dulling her wits. She couldn't believe what she had agreed to - to become one of _them_, to switch sides. It was an utter betrayal of everything she stood for. The things she would be driven to _do. _It made her feel sick...

But there was also anticipation there, and that scared her too. She knew that her life had hardened her in body and mind, but she had never though she would come so far. But she had. Her own need for survival had surpassed her empathy and every value her parents had instilled in her from birth. To live she was prepared to kill, bloodsuckers or human.

"Shrapnel?" she whispered softly.

His face was turned away from her, staring off at the layers of newspaper cuttings covering the walls of his office. She doubted they were what he was looking at though. Knowing him, it was Jessica's face in his mind's eye.

"Shrapnel, please, I need to talk to you."

"Alexis, look...I know," he trailed off. "I know what you're trying to do. Laura's been trying to, but it's _okay_. This is how I grieve."

A pang of guilt hit her then. Somehow she had managed to keep herself cold and resigned about what she had to do, but seeing him there, in pain, it was infinitely harder. Of all the gang, she owed him the most. And of all the people in the world, he was that one that meant the most to her too.

"No. It's not that, I know. It's just..."

There it was, the true moment of no return, the unforgivable face to face betrayal.

"Since Jessica died, I've reconsidered what you said to me before. I've realized I was stupid."

"What I said before?" he asked, finally turning to face her, confused.

"About that group, about keeping our family safe."

"Circle Daybreak?"

"Yes."

Her heart was beating a hundred miles an hour, but her face was calm. Thinking about hurting Shrapnel flooded her with regrets and self loathing, but now there was excitement too. She was getting closer to her goal.

"Alexis...I know I made it sound...I just don't think I was the one that was right. You were." He sighed.

"What?" she asked, surprised. She hadn't expected that.

"I'm sorry Alexis." his voice thickening, as if he were about to cry. "I should never have thought that they could be trusted. Seeing Jessica...like that. It reminded me why we fight."

"Shrapnel, no. _No._ Don't you see, we can't fight, not like this. This group, maybe it's founded on concepts we can't understand, but I don't think their promises are empty. If there's a chance we can save anyone in this gang, we have to take it."

He looked at her sadly, pitying.

"Alexis. I understand. But, what happened wasn't your fault, please."

"I don't think it was my fault! I'm trying to do good here, trying to help!" she yelled. She didn't know why though, except that maybe his words had struck something buried.

"Alexis. You know I would do anything for you, and I would do it for any of you. But this I can't, because I don't want to lose you. I want you to be _safe. _ And here is as safe as I can keep you."

She stood, suddenly so angry she wasn't sure what to do.

"Safe? I'm sure Jessica felt safe."

And then she turned and stormed from the room. Shrapnel didn't try to follow her.

Her breathing was coming hard, her muscles tense as if she were about to fight. She wasn't sure what had made her so mad, and lose control. His words maybe, accusing her of things she knew she felt, and making her felt guilt for what she was about to do. His soulful eyes trying to tell her everything would be okay.

_Well it wont. We're all going to die, each and every one of us, and soon. Except me._

She leaned back on the wall, trying to control her breathing. 'Except me'. It burned through her, reminding her what she was aiming for. If she didn't cooperate, they would all die, and if she did, she would survive. It was a clear choice, the only one she could make. If Shrapnel knew what she was doing, he would understand. he would want her to live.

She had hoped for more information. More information meant more time, more time with them, more time where she could pretend what she was doing could be undone. But no, it looked like she was going to have to pull her insurance early.

When the next meeting finally came, she felt scared, but ready.

* * *

This time, to her confusion, the car ride seemed to go on and on. Instead of blacking out minutes into the ride, she watched as the city slid by her. Downtown. Suburbs. Forests. Out further from home than she had been in a long, long time.

_Why aren't I being knocked out?_, she wondered anxiously.

It wasn't that she wanted to be, but anything knew was a cause for alarm. Why would Hunter suddenly not mind her knowing where she lived? Unless this time their destination wasn't to his home. And that meant a complete unknown in terms of her future, which terrified her.

"Hey! Hey, where are we going?" she called out to the driver.

He didn't turn. Maybe the intercom was off, but it drove her anxiety deeper. Why wouldn't he answer?

She started to bang on the glass paneling separating them. Yelling and putting as much force into it as she could in such a confined space, but to no avail. The driver never moved, as if her were a machine, not a man.

Exhausted and bruised, she lay down across the seats and resigned herself to whatever was about to happen next.


End file.
